DIY Interface Technical Information
The open source interface to Motor driver boards are based on a simple 10 Pin insulation displacement connector (IDC).    This 10 pin IDC connector makes for easy hookup from an interface board to a motor driver board.     The signal definition is aligned to make the connections more versitle, depending on how the user wants to build their system.     The first row of the connector contains all the signals necessary in the interface, and the second row is all grounds.    The row of grounds isolates each signal of the first row with a ground wire in the IDC cable.     The connector orientation is laid out from interface to motor driver board as below:


Pin 1 Enable (low = enabled).
Pin 3 Direction.
Pin 5 Step.
Pin 7 Motor driver interface (common).
Pin 9 +5VDC (selectable direction).
All even pins are interface common.
The interface is a 5V logic level interface, with the following definitions: Pin 1 Enable (low = enabled), Pin 3, Direction, Pin 5 Step, Pin 7 Motor driver interface (common), Pin 9 +5VDC (selectable direction).    All even pins are interface common.   The outputs are enabled by a low logic signal (less than .7vdc) on the Enable pin.   Step occurs on the edge of a logic level transition of the Step pin. Pin 9 (+5vdc) is to be designed as optionable to the interface.    If the motor driver board has it's own 5VDC source on board (recommended), that board should provide a jumper option to supply 5vdc back to the interface board.    This feature can be impleneted so that a low current interface board doesn't need it's own +5V source, or can supply the interface for the output side of and opto isolator.

Created 7/30/2005 Updated 4/17/2009